MN CCW bill a slam-dunk in Senate

[TheeBadOne]

In a solid win for pro-gun forces, the Minnesota Senate passed a measure Friday that would allow nearly all law-abiding citizens to get permits to carry loaded handguns in public.

The 44-21 vote likely clears the way for the Minnesota House to pass the bill early next week and send it to the governor for his signature.

Lawmakers first passed the measure, alternatively called the conceal-carry bill or the Personal Protection Act, in 2003, but the state Appeals Court last month ruled that the way it was passed was unconstitutional.

During five hours of Senate debate, proponents of the bill, made up largely of Republicans and rural Democrats, prevailed in vote after vote.

They voted Friday to strip out changes a Senate panel had made to the measure last month. Those changes included banning permit holders from taking their weapons into churches, children's camps or universities unless they have special permission. They also removed permission for cities to ban guns from their buildings and parks and language that would have barred permit holders from having any alcoholic drinks.

Backers also fended off nearly two dozen attempts by opponents to add more restrictions on where permit holders can take their guns, who can get a permit and on punishments for permit holders who take their guns where they've been forbidden to take them.

Only two amendments from opponents prevailed. One, which passed unanimously, would make it a misdemeanor for a registered sex offender to carry a pistol. The other would require permit holders to tell police officers when asked if they are carrying a firearm.

Even the chief sponsor of the gun bill, Sen. Pat Pariseau, R-Farmington, said she was surprised at how tightly the coalition stuck together. She said she has been lobbying supporters, but "on this issue there is never a hard (vote) count."

Opponents said they were stunned that senators defeated their attempts to change the bill.

"This bill is not thoughtful. It is at the direction of the (National Rifle Association)," said Sen. Jane Ranum, DFL-Minneapolis. Upon leaving Senate chambers Friday she told the handful of anti-gun activists waiting outside that she was "profoundly sorry."

Despite the long floor debate, Pariseau said passing the bill this year was "less painful" than in 2003.

Back then Senate leaders did not allow the measure, which had been pushed by gun-friendly lawmakers for more than five years, to reach the full Senate for a vote. So the Minnesota House, which had passed the measure, attached the gun law to a Senate measure dealing with icehouses.

That House move forced the Senate to either pass the bill or kill it. The Senate passed it 37-30 and the governor signed it.

Before the law passed, permit applicants had to prove they had a legitimate need to carry a weapon in public. The new law, and the measure the Senate passed Friday, would generally allow any sane, law-abiding adult to get a permit to carry.

But that legislative method of passing the 2003 law led to court challenges. A month ago the state appellate court said lawmakers ignored the state constitution by passing the law the way they did and struck it down.

That's why lawmakers like Pariseau, who has pushed for the law for nearly a decade, decided they should re-pass the 2003 law this year.

House Speaker Steve Sviggum, R-Kenyon, said he expected the Minnesota House to take up the Senate bill — and perhaps pass it without any changes — early next week.

If the new measure does become law it may well be challenged in court, opponents said.

"They've pretty much guaranteed that the state's going to be right back in court again," said Rebecca Thoman, executive director of Citizens for a Safer Minnesota.

David Lillehaug, an attorney who represented dozens of churches in a challenge to the 2003 law, said if the new law does not ban guns from religious institutions, the state will probably see another lawsuit.

"I'm deeply troubled that the majority of the Senate ignored the rights of religious institutions," said Lillehaug. "Apparently some of them thought the Second Amendment was more important than the First Amendment."



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[DaMadman]

Didn't read the whole thing but any win for concealed carry is a good thing. Please send that pro-CCW attitude to Maryland on the first express train plane or Automobile.

Congrats to Minnesota on the victory